Only 3% back government's AI copyright proposal in major setback for ministers
The majority of over 10,000 respondents to a UK consultation on AI and copyright have overwhelmingly shown their disapproval of the government proposal
Ninety-five per cent of respondents to a government consultation on AI have called for copyright to be strengthened and for there to be a requirement for licensing in all cases or no change to copyright law at all.
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Only 3 per cent of people supported the government’s proposed tech company-friendly option, which wanted artists and copyright holders to actively opt out of having their material exposed to AI mining processes.
A number of celebrities, including Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa, have been leading a campaign to push back on AI infringement into the creative industry. Artists such as Sam Fender, Kate Bush and the Pet Shop Boys have also been vocal in their opposition.
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Central to the debate is the way in which AI developers frequently scrape vast amounts of data from the internet, including copyrighted works, to train their models.
A key sticking point is whether creators should have to actively "opt out" for their work from this AI training (also known as mining) or if AI companies should be required to seek "opt-in" licenses from creators.
There is also the question of whether creators should receive payment for their work being used during the scraping process.
However, since the latest consultation results were announced ministers have dropped their tech friendly proposal for the time being.
Liz Kendall, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, told parliament on Monday there was “no clear consensus” on the issue and the government would “take the time to get this right”, and promised to make policy proposals by 18 March 2026.
“Our approach to copyright and AI must support prosperity for all UK citizens, and drive innovation and growth for sectors across the economy, including the creative industries,” she said.
Last month, Kendall indicated she was sympathetic to artists’ demands not to have their copyrighted works scraped by AI companies without payment and wanted to “reset” the debate.
“People rightly want to get paid for the work that they do,” she said, and “we have to find a way that both sectors can grow and thrive in future”.